3º Hardware, Chips, Telco, Space, IoT & Quantum computing - 8th July

Analyst report:

• Ericsson’s latest global mobile data report. Link

News

• Sources: Google delays releasing its first fully custom Pixel chip by at least a year; instead of codename Redondo's 2024 debut, codename Laguna is set for 2025 (Wayne Ma / The Information)(🔐)
• TSMC does not expect China's gallium and germanium export curbs to have any “impact on TSMC's production”; a Chinese official warns the rules are “just a start” (Ben Blanchard / Reuters)
• A look at Samsung's efforts to make AI chips; some skeptics question if the company can become indispensable in generative AI as in smartphones and high-res TVs (Chang Che / New York Times) (🔐)

Startups raising funds

• Lilz, a Japanese maker of connected cameras for meter monitoring, raised $4.1m from JIC Venture Growth Investments, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Tokyo Century, Dimension Fund, Okinawa Development Finance Corp., Okinawa's Science and Technology Development Center and Dogan Beta. Link
• Nothing, a London-based smartphone developer, raised $96m. Highland Europe led, and was joined by insiders GV, EQT Ventures and C Capital. Link
• Celestial AI, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based photonic fabric startup, raised $100m in Series B funding from IAG Capital Partners, Koch Disruptive Technologies and Temasek. Link
• IP Fabric, a New York-based automated network assurance startup, raised $25m in Series B funding. One Peak led, and was joined by Senovo and Presto Ventures. Link
• B Garage, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of autonomous warehouse drones, raised $20m in Series A funding. LB Investment led, and was joined by Ignite Innovation Fund, Krossroad Partners and insider SoftBank Ventures Asia. Link
• CADDi, a Tokyo-based provider of manufacturing industry procurement solutions, raised $89m in Series C funding from insiders Globis Capital Partners, DCM, Global Brain, World Innovation Lab, JAFCO and Minerva Growth Partners. Link
• VSParticle, a Dutch provider of nanoparticle printing tools, raised €14.5m. Plural led, and was joined by BlueYard Capital and Nxtgen Hightech (€3.5m grant). Link
• Nomad Atomics, an Australian quantum sensor startup, raised A$12m from Blackbird Venturesand Right Click Capital. Link
• Cavli, a San Jose, Calif.-based maker of cellular modules, raised $10m in Series A funding co-led by Chiratae Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures. Link
• RoboDeck, an Israeli maker of deck maintenance robots, raised $2m in pre-seed funding. SOSV led, and was joined by Scalar Ventures and Etz-Ve-Etza. Link

M&A and Private equity deals

• Japan Investment Corp., a state-backed group, agreed to buy and privatize chipmaking materials provider JSR (Tokyo: 4185) for $6.3 billion. Link
• Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) is considering acquiring Wiferion, a German wireless charging manufacturer for autonomous vehicles and robots, per the Robot Report. Link
• Ardian agreed to buy a 50% stake in Mexican telco MXT Holdings from Telefónica (Madrid: TEF), with the remaining 50% stake to be maintained by Mexico Infrastructure Partners. Link
• Arrival (Nasdaq: ARVL), a London-based EV design and manufacturing company that went public in 2021 via a SPAC, has canceled a subsequent SPAC merger with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. V (NYSE: KCGI). Link

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